XI

Tavi drummed her fingers on the desk, her pointed nails clicking against the glass. “Took you long enough.”

Arms out wide, Aiden glanced down at his uniform. “Why, yes, Tavi, I do look rather charming in this bright orange trash bag. Thank you.”

Tavi rolled her eyes so dramatically, she might have caught a glimpse of her brain. “Anyway, there are several things you need to learn, and, lucky for you, you have the best teacher in the entire unit.”

The tight elastic ankle cuffs dug into Aiden’s calves with each step toward Tavi. “Great.” He wiggled a bit as he walked. The constrictive orange fabric kept riding up. Leave it to Aiden to get another uniform that felt entirely too small. “Where do I go to meet this master teacher?”

Tavi cleared her throat, the corners of her mouth twitching with a smile. “At the end of next week you’ll have a test on what you’ve learned.” She steepled her fingers, pressed them against her thin lips, and continued. “If you pass, it’ll determine which section within the End-of-Life Unit you’re best suited for. If you fail, well, you’re kicked from the program and will have to head back to career placement. For what, I assume, is the three hundredth time. Now,” her hands slapped against the desk as she stood, “some newb instructors go easy on people who are sent down here, but others—” She sucked in her lips to keep from smiling. “Others have been here longer and know what’s expected and how to weed out losers.” Her gaze narrowed at him as she enunciated the word. “And the like. Others—” Another twitch of her lips. “Like me.” Twitch. “And, like I said, I am the best.” The smile broke free, curling up mischievously as she grabbed her holopad and shoved it into her pocket.

Aiden felt his expression abandon his carefree facade and twist into a grimace. Tavi hated him, thought he was a loser, and now she was the person in charge of teaching him everything he needed to know to be successful in the ELU. Aiden tugged at the orange fabric zipped up to his throat. “This should be fun.”

Tavi blew past him, her pink hair still unmoving despite her speed. “What part of death, exactly, is supposed to be fun?” she tossed over her shoulder as her short legs carried her down another long corridor they had yet to explore.

Aiden slumped forward and dragged his hands down his cheeks.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

But he knew why. He even knew how. Cath Scott was trying to save him and prove a point at the same time—better this than Rehab.

“It doesn’t look good to constantly lag behind!” Tavi’s shout hammered his internal mutterings.

With the enthusiasm of a person who’d spend the rest of his life surrounded by death, Aiden shuffled after his instructor.

-:-:-

Aiden followed Tavi around the bowels of the MediCenter for what seemed like a million hours. She pointed to a thousand different rooms, explained to him exactly why he didn’t qualify for access to see what was behind each shiny, windowless metal door, before pursing her lips, shaking her head, and doing the same at the next door they came to.

Aiden checked the illuminated number on his cuff. 10:52.

He fought the urge to tilt his head back and groan. No way have I only been down here for a little over an hour. He dragged his fingertips along the wall as he trailed Tavi and her fluorescent pink and blond hair helmet. “What a time suck,” he muttered.

“Hm?” Tavi’s sneakers squeaked against the floor as she stopped abruptly in front of another metal door.

Aiden snapped his hands to his side and stared ahead attentively. “Nothing.” He couldn’t bare another lecture about his “lack of interest and what that said about his character.”

Tavi shrugged and typed a few notes onto her holopad before looking up. “Now, this door, you’re actually allowed to go through.”

“I’m honored.” Aiden attempted a bow but thought better of it as soon as Tavi’s glare sliced through him.

She passed her cuff under the control panel and motioned for him to enter as the door slid open.

It was exciting, and, if Aiden was being honest, a little intimidating to finally gain entry into one of the mysterious rooms. He’d assumed they would walk around the entire basement and end up back at the intake desk before he was actually allowed to touch anything.

Inside, white light beamed from overhead even brighter than the scorching light of the hallway. Aiden’s eyes watered, and he squinted, barely getting a peek at Tavi’s pink-tipped bob before it disappeared around the corner. Aiden rubbed his eyes and rushed to keep up with her.

“Cold Storage is through that Violet Shield barrier,” Tavi said as, with a sweeping gesture, she motioned across the bright room to the floor-to-ceiling pane of violet. “Although you’ll never have to mess with anything in there. Humans are not allowed past the barrier. Well, not living ones anyway.” She let out a tinkling chuckle. “Now, we can start in here with the cadaver examiner bots, or go over to the lab and begin with sample testing and storage. Either way, we’ll begin begin with containment protocols.” Her fingers flicked across her holopad like the legs of a bug. “We have to cover all of it, so it’s really up to you, which is something you won’t hear me say very often.”

Aiden’s eyes finally adjusted, and his hand fell by his side. The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he fought to keep his gaze from locking onto the Cold Storage shield and the rows of death beyond.

“They’re clear.” He relinquished control, tossing his attention to the room past the violet wall. “All of it is clear. You can see . . . everything.”

Tavi’s thin shoulders hiked. “They’re just bodies.”

Aiden’s heart knocked against his ribs. “They’re people.”

She snorted. “They were.”

He didn’t know what to say to that. In a way, she was right.

“Look, Aiden, you seem like a . . .” She paused, scrunching her face in that disapproving way of hers. “Guy—I don’t know. My point is that we have amazing protocols down here. Part of the reason that Cold Storage is filled with clear cases is so that we can more easily monitor the bodies, and we aren’t only relying on bots to relay all of the necessary information. Cerberus pretty much liquified people, and with clear cases that’s super easy to spot.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her fingers against her thin lips. “Not that it would actually get that far. I mean, the bots take samples, spray down the bodies and the cases and the walls and the floors, plus the Violet Shield and the—”

Aiden shook his head. “I don’t need an explanation.” Tavi opened her mouth to object, and Aiden added, “At least, not yet. I just—” His shoes were the same sharp white as the floor and the ceiling and the walls and the lights. “I need a minute.”

Tavi balled her hands into fists. Her scrubs hung loose on her petite frame. If he’d looked like he was wearing his little brother’s uniform earlier, she looked like she was wearing her mother’s. “Another break? Yeah, sure, fine, whatever.” Exasperated, she threw her hands into the air. “Take another one. Take all of the breaks you want. I’m not the one who has to pass the Level One Orientation Test next week. You are.” Scrunch. “And don’t get all queasy and barf on my floor.”

Aiden wasn’t in danger of throwing up. He wasn’t in danger at all. With everything the Key had done to keep Westfall safe, any danger he could end up in he’d have to search out himself.

His stomach hollowed as he sped toward the door that would free him into the hall and lead him back to the expansive intake room. He couldn’t help but take another look back at the storage boxes and the pairs of feet pressed against the end of the clear rectangle. All different sizes. All different colors. All waiting for dissection. All waiting to burn.

“And we’ll meet back in the lab.” Tavi’s voice was tinny as his heartbeat slammed against his eardrums. “You’re so not ready for cadavers.”